Douluo: Emerald Poison Emperor

Because he had already become a disciple of Chrysanthemum Douluo, Chen Ming's mind turned quickly. He leaned close to Dugu Bo and reached into Dugu Bo's Wishful Hundred Treasure Purse. Although the pouch was still being used by Dugu Bo, it now contained many valuable items that Chen Ming had asked Dugu Bo to store for him. While the ownership still technically belonged to Dugu Bo, it was essentially as if Chen Ming was using it.

After fumbling around for a moment, Chen Ming took out a box from the pouch.

This box was the same one Qian Renxue had given him when presenting the Dragon Pearl. Since the Dragon Pearl no longer needed to be stored inside, Chen Ming emptied the box and began using it for other items.

The large box opened, revealing a smaller jade box inside.

Before Chen Ming could say anything, Chrysanthemum Douluo's eyes lit up, and in a flash, he pressed his face close to the box.

"Is this… the seed of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum?"

Earlier, the two high-quality boxes had concealed the aura, so Chrysanthemum Douluo hadn't noticed. But once one box was opened, the remaining box could no longer block the perception of Chrysanthemum Douluo, whose martial soul was the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum.

Chen Ming nodded and opened the smaller jade box, revealing a faintly golden seed inside.

"Master Chrysanthemum, this is my gift for formally becoming your disciple—a small token of appreciation. Please accept it."

Chrysanthemum Douluo carefully picked up the seed, examining it closely. He even infused it with his soul power, sensing the unmistakable resonance of its origin. A trace of moisture appeared in the corner of his eyes.

"Xiao Ming, this gift is simply too precious. I will accept this token of apprenticeship, but as your teacher, I must also prepare a gift for you."

As he spoke, Chrysanthemum Douluo removed a pendant from his waist and cautiously handed it to Chen Ming.

"This pendant is said to have been carved from the bones of a powerful soul beast hunted by the Angel God ten thousand years ago. Many years ago, the previous Pope gave it to me as a gift when I advanced to the rank of Titled Douluo. It contains a powerful holy attribute."

"Although I have never figured out exactly what this treasure does, I can confirm that it was indeed crafted by the Angel God, and the divine aura within it was left by the Angel God herself. Treat it as my gift to you."

Chen Ming reached out to accept the pendant, just about to express his gratitude, when he suddenly felt himself being pulled into a state of spiritual vision.

Tens of thousands of years ago, the Era of the Myriad Dragons came to an end. Soul beasts, who had once ruled the Douluo world, could no longer become gods. Every hundred thousand years, they had to endure a deadly tribulation that was nearly impossible to survive.

As the faith and prayers of countless soul beasts merged with the power of their collective destiny, a unique soul beast was born in the heavens and earth.

This soul beast had no name and no kindred. It was born with attributes of ultimate light and ultimate fire, as well as an essence akin to divinity.

It seemed to be a manifestation of the soul beast race's destiny and prayers. Although it could not extend its lifespan by other means, it was immune to the fatal lightning tribulations that plagued other soul beasts.

The beast could naturally double the cultivation speed of the soul beasts around it and provide a faint glimmer of hope to those facing tribulation, turning certain death into a slim chance of survival, or a slim chance of survival into a miraculous escape from death.

This unique soul beast was called the Auspicious Beast by all the soul beasts of the continent. It was the natural sovereign of all soul beasts, second only to Di Tian.

No soul beast dared harm the Auspicious Beast, even if it tried to prey on them. At most, they could flee, but they could never retaliate—not even those who had survived the tribulations.

After living for nearly 300,000 years, the Auspicious Beast continued to roam carefree across the Douluo Continent with its companions, during a time when soul beasts still ruled the world.

At that time, the 300,000-year-old Auspicious Beast was considered one of the most powerful beings among soul beasts, second only to the Beast God, Di Tian. Even Di Tian himself could not easily command the Auspicious Beast.

However, due to its immense power and the attributes of ultimate fire and ultimate light, the Auspicious Beast's playful antics often resulted in catastrophic consequences. On one occasion, the Auspicious Beast accidentally destroyed a human settlement with tens of thousands of people while playing. As it left, the Auspicious Beast noticed a young girl standing protectively in front of several children, glaring at it with rage.

Had it been any other soul beast daring to glare at it like that, the Auspicious Beast would have destroyed them immediately. But this new species called humans was far too weak. The girl's hateful gaze only amused the Auspicious Beast. It casually released a breath imbued with ultimate light and ultimate fire and then left with its companions.

Over a hundred years later, while the Auspicious Beast was playing as usual, a female human, clad in flames and light and with six wings on her back, appeared before it.

The human, radiating both light and fire, questioned the Auspicious Beast: did it still remember the settlement it had destroyed?

The Auspicious Beast scratched its head and sincerely replied that it had forgotten. Just as it couldn't remember how many meals it had eaten or the paths it had walked, it had no interest in keeping track of the insignificant settlements it had destroyed.

To the Auspicious Beast, killing was its natural privilege. Both soul beasts and humans should feel honored to die by its power.

Sensing danger from the human, the Auspicious Beast didn't want to fight her, so it invited her to join it in destroying a few small settlements for fun.

Upon hearing this, the female soul master was enraged. The ultimate light and ultimate fire engulfed the earth, divine power gathered in her sword, and the eight indistinct soul rings around her fused into her body. In an instant, she transformed into a Seraphim, towering dozens of meters tall.

The battle between the Seraphim and the Auspicious Beast lasted three days. During this time, the Seraphim slew the Auspicious Beast's companions—soul beasts that had survived their first and second tribulations. She also killed several supporting 100,000-year soul beasts and dozens of 10,000-year soul beasts before, with her soul power nearly depleted, finally slaying the Auspicious Beast.

The female soul master, whose martial spirit was the Seraphim, absorbed the Auspicious Beast's soul ring as her ninth ring, seizing the fate of the soul beast race for herself.

In its final moments, the Auspicious Beast attempted to detonate its soul core to perish together with the Female Soul Master, but she pierced the core with her sword, absorbing the power of the soul core into the blade.

After confirming the Auspicious Beast's death, the female soul master severed its head and took it as a trophy.

Returning to her people, she held the Auspicious Beast's divine-like head high. Ordinary humans cheered wildly, chanting a name that arose from their voices:

"Angel God!"

For decades, the Auspicious Beast's head hung on a massive pillar in the center of the human settlement, a symbol of their triumph over the continent's rulers, the soul beasts. Under the Angel God's leadership, humanity entered its era of dominance over the Douluo Continent.

One day, the Angel God, whose power was now unfathomable, returned to the settlement. She took down the Auspicious Beast's head and used Angel Fire of a god-like level to vaporize its flesh. The enormous skull gradually shrank.

The Angel God carved the skull into dozens of pendants of various sizes and distributed them to the leaders of human tribes, symbolizing humanity's victory over the soul beasts and the dawn of their age on the Douluo Continent.